Icky LeaksSensitive diplomatic communications have been published by the Wikileaks Web site, and some of this sensitive material concerns Russia. The importance of Russia as a global power has been downplayed since the fall of the Soviet Union. Leaked U.S. State Department cables give us a glimpse of how dangerous Russia is becoming. The true nature of the Russian regime has not been a popular topic of public discussion; but in secret meetings between diplomats, statesmen and law enforcement officials, there is growing concern. Russia has become the center of international corruption, drawing other states into her orbit.From the leaked...

New information has come to light concerning the Polish plane crash that killed the main figures of Poland's government, including its President. According to investigative reporter Jane Burgermeister, the black box indicates no mechanical issues with the plane and no interference on the part of Poland's President to force a landing of the plane against the wishes of the pilot. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek). Poland mourns. In addition, there is no indication at all from the recovered record that the plane attempted several landings, as reported by Russian officials. The plane attempted to land only once. Discrepancies also exist with...

MOSCOW — Nearly two decades after the collapse of the Communist Party, Russia’s rulers have hit upon a model for future success: the Communist Party. Or at least, the one that reigns next door. Like an envious underachiever, Vladimir V. Putin’s party, United Russia, is increasingly examining how it can emulate the Chinese Communist Party, especially its skill in shepherding China through the financial crisis relatively unbowed. United Russia’s leaders even convened a special meeting this month with senior Chinese Communist Party officials to hear firsthand how they wield power. ..." “The accomplishments of China’s Communist Party in developing its...

“Well you’re the obvious guy, uh, spirit, to ask about this stuff, because you spent most of your career watching the KGB didn’t you?” It was rhetorical, needless to say. I had finally connected with the shade of the late James Jesus Angleton after several dropped communications via the ouija board, and now that I had him I wanted to find out what he thought about the melodramatic death of former KGB agent (or FSB…whatever) Alexander Litvinenko in London. Ian Fleming couldn’t have invented a wilder story.....

Poisoned Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko died on Thursday in an intensive care ward, London's University College Hospital said. Litvinenko, a fierce critic of the Russian government, suffered a rapid deterioration in his health on Thursday, but doctors still were unable to determine the cause of his death, a spokesman said in a statement.

There are many reasons to expect Moscow's deteriorating ties with the West will continue their downward trend this autumn. But the key one may be growing differences over the breakaway regions of Transdniester, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia and their stated desire to proclaim independence from Moldova and Georgia. The issue pushing the frozen conflicts to the fore are two independence referendums -- one in Transdniester on September 17, the second in South Ossetia on November 12. Russia, which has acted as a long-term booster for the separatist regions, is looking at the plebescites in two ways: a chance to bring...

Kazan(Russia), Aug 31: Officials and religious figures from Russia and more than a dozen Islamic countries kicked off a conference here that organizers said was aimed at deepening their dialogue and defending a "multipolar" world in the face of US power. "Values cannot be imposed by force," Mintimer Shaimiyev, President of Russia`s mainly Muslim republic of Tatarstan where the three-day conference was being held, said in an opening address to delegates. "The example of Iraq has shown that democracy can only be the result of internal development. Liberal values can`t be exported like cars. A multipolar world without a system...

The radio host asked, "Which is a greater national security threat to the United States, the insecurity of America's southern border or Iran's nuclear ambition?" It wasn't a trick question. True, Iran poses an international apocalyptic sort of threat; one JINSA takes most seriously. But at the end of the diplomatic day, we - and even our reticent allies - will know what to do with a country threatening us with nuclear weapons. Mexico, our friend and neighbor, poses a different kind of problem. Mexico has been roiled by strikes and protests since July, when Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador claimed...

Even if one rejects Golitsyn's overall thesis -- viz., that Gorbachev's changes comprised a long-term strategic deception -- one must still acknowledge that Golitsyn was the only analyst whose crystal ball was functioning during the key period of the late 20th century. When the Soviet Empire collapsed in 1989, the CIA was chastised for failing to foresee the change. "For a generation, the Central Intelligence Agency told successive presidents everything they needed to know about the Soviet Union," said Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, "except that it was about to fall apart." Sovietologists both inside and outside CIA were indeed baffled,...

HUGO CHÁVEZ, the ardently anti-American President of Venezuela, arrives in Russia today to sign a billion-dollar arms deal that has infuriated and alarmed the US. The self-styled leftist revolutionary will sign an agreement with President Putin to buy 30 Sukhoi Su30 fighter jets and 30 military helicopters worth $1 billion (£540 million). The two leaders will also discuss plans to build two Kalashnikov factories in Venezuela — to add to the 100,000 Kalashnikov AK103 assault rifles that Venezuela has bought from Russia in the past year. The arms deals — and the visit by Señor Chávez — are the latest...

Relations between the US and Russia are deteriorating badly and there is a danger of conflict in the flashpoints of the south Caucasus, according to senior former officials and corporate leaders advising the EastWest Institute (EWI). EWI board members at the think-tank's annual meeting in Charleston were almost unanimous in calling for moves to prevent what one called an emerging "cold peace" between the US and Russia. John Mroz, founder and president of EWI, called the deterioration worrisome. He placed the trend in the context of growing distrust between the major powers, including China, with the world in a state...

SINGAPORE — U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld branded Iran as the world's leading terrorist nation yet hoped Tehran seriously would consider incentives from the West in exchange for suspending suspect nuclear activities. Rumsfeld, attending an annual security conference, also took aim Saturday at Russia and China for allowing Iran's involvement in a group that he said has stated opposition to terrorism and extremists. Iraq was on Rumsfeld's mind, too, as he expressed concern the war could alienate Muslims in Southeast Asia. Upcoming stops on his trip include Indonesia and Vietnam. The U.S. and five other world powers decided last...

MOSCOW—After a decade as a largely unknown body bringing together Russia, China and a number of Central Asian states, the Shanghai Co-operation Organization is evolving into a security and political bloc that could become a key global player with the clout to challenge NATO, experts say. Russian and Chinese leaders praised the organization this week as parliamentary leaders from its six member states met in Moscow ahead of a major SCO summit on June 15 in Shanghai. Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan founded the group as the "Shanghai Five" in 1996 and it was expanded to include Uzbekistan, renamed...

Venezuela has received its first delivery of tens of thousands of Russian assault rifles. It is the first batch out of a total of 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles which Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered from Moscow.

Russia is holding talks with Venezuela to license the manufacture of Kalashnikov rifles there, Russia's state arms exporter has confirmed. On Tuesday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Russia planned to build two munitions plants in the country. Moscow has already signed a deal to supply Venezuela with 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles. The move is likely to worry the US, which regards Mr Chavez as a destabilising influence in the region. In May, the US State Department banned arms sales to Venezuela because of concern over its contacts with Iran and Cuba and what it called Venezuela's lack of support for...

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Russia will help Venezuela build plants to make Kalashnikov rifles and ammunition after the United States restricted arms sales to the South American nation, President Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday. Chavez also told a press conference in Quito, Ecuador, that a delivery of 30,000 Kalashnikov automatic rifles was due to arrive from Russia in early June. "The Russians are going to install a Kalashnikov rifle plant and a munitions factory. So we can defend every street, every hill, every corner," he said in remarks broadcast in Venezuela. Washington banned all weapons sales to Chavez's leftist government...

The chief of Russia's security council said Sunday that Russia opposes any use of force against Iran over its controversial nuclear program, the Iranian state-run television reported. "Unlike the U.S., Russia believes Iran's nuclear program needs to be resolved only through dialogue. Any use of force will further complicate the issue and will cause tension in the region," Igor Ivanov was quoted as saying by the station. Ivanov made the comments during a meeting with Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani. Ivanov arrived in Tehran late Saturday to discuss Iran's contentious nuclear program, including incentives to be offered as a...

The decision by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to refer Iran's nuclear programme to the UN Security Council has thrown into sharp focus relations between Iran and Russia. Moscow may soon have to choose whether to back Iran or align itself with the US and the European Union (EU) in reining in Iran's nuclear intentions. Russia appears ready to co-operate with both the USA and Iran in order to boost its trade relations with the two countries. Although Russia is also a leading oil exporter and therefore unlikely to be intimidated by Iranian threats to reduce oil sales, the...

Dick Cheney charges Vladimir Putin with limiting freedom and intimidating former Soviet satellites. A sure sign he's right: Russia's last communist premier, Mikhail Gorbachev, cries "provocation." The most dishonest news story of the 20th century was the cover-up of the Soviet Union's forced famine in the Ukraine in the 1930s by New York Times Moscow correspondent Walter Duranty. The Stalin sympathizer knew as many as 10 million Ukrainians died, yet he wrote that famine was not happening. Disgracefully, his Pulitzer Prize was never revoked and his photo still has a place of honor in the Times' offices. In a reminder...

National PR-ity // Moscow drafts a plan to influence the United States The Kremlin has taken up the promotion of Russian interests in the United States head-on. The key role will be given to the Russian-U.S. Council for Business Cooperation (RUCBC) whose supervisory board will include high-ranking officials from the Russian president’s administration, ministers and prominent public figures. The Russian government asked the Finance Ministry to find sources to finance the NGO. However, it has already been suggested that big business contribute for the council’s activities. The first donation is expected to amount to $50 million. Work has in progress...

The Russian State Duma Council has postponed discussions on the draft-statement commenting on the policy of Georgian President, Mikheil Saakashvili. Aleksei Mitrofanov from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) and author of the statement requested that the statement be discussed on Thursday April 6, but the speaker of the Russian Parliament, Boris Grizlov turned down his request, saying that it would be on the agenda at the next week's session. In the statement Mitrofanov expressed concerns over the military preparations that have been evident since Saakashvili's rise to power. "It appears that Georgia in fact is completing preparations for an invasion...

MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's foreign spy agency denied Saturday that Moscow gave Saddam Hussein information on U.S. troop movements and plans during the invasion of Iraq, while analysts speculated the Pentagon claim was tied to a growing rift between the West and the Kremlin. A Pentagon report Friday cited two captured Iraqi documents as saying Russia obtained information from sources "inside the American Central Command" in Qatar and passed battlefield intelligence to Saddam through the former Russian ambassador in Baghdad, Vladimir Titorenko. The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service dismissed the claims. "Similar, baseless accusations concerning Russia's intelligence have been made more...

THE career of President Vladimir Putin of Russia was built at least in part on a lie, according to US researchers. A new study of an economics thesis written by Putin in the mid-1990s has revealed that large chunks of it were copied from an American text. Putin was labelled a plagiarist yesterday after a pair of researchers at the Brookings Institution, a Washington DC think tank, established that the Russian president’s academic credentials were based on a dissertation he had lifted in part verbatim from the Russian translation of a management study written by two professors at the University...

Various news source covered the shocking scandals of declassified documents of Department of Defense which mentions Russia has supported Saddam Hussein before and during Iraq War, providing intelligence about moves of US Armed Force. During Iraq War, there were also rumors that Russian Special Operation Force moved out WMD related entities to Syria, a move against the interest of US, and hiding the truth from the world. US-Russia relationship soon detoriated in this period, with Russia opposing the Iraq War, also with conflicts on certain issues, such as exports of military equipment to Syria and Iran, which have continued to...

WASHINGTON - The Russian government had sources inside the American military command as it planned and executed the invasion of Iraq in 2003, according to Iraqi documents released as part of a Pentagon report. The Russians passed information to Saddam Hussein on U.S. troop movements and plans during the opening days of the war, according to the report Friday. The unclassified report does not assess the value of the information or provide details beyond citing two captured Iraqi documents that say the Russians collected information from sources "inside the American Central Command" and that battlefield intelligence was provided to Saddam...

March 23, 2006 — Following are the ABC News Investigative Unit's summaries of five documents from Saddam Hussein's government, which the U.S. government has released. The documents discuss Osama bin Laden, weapons of mass destruction, al Qaeda and more. The full documents can be found on the U.S. Army Foreign Military Studies Office Web site: http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/products-docex.htm. Note: Document titles were added by ABC News. "U.S. War Plan Leaked to Iraqis by Russian Ambassador" Documents dated March 5-8, 2003 Two Iraqi documents dated in March 2003 — on the eve of the U.S.-led invasion — and addressed to the secretary of...

Stalin Kicked The Bucket Old Joe kicked the bucket, he's long gone. He won't worry us from now on. He lived in a place they call Moscow. His number came up and he had to go, Refrain: Yes, old Joe's dead and gone. He stayed around too long. And nobody now can save his hide, 'Cause old Joe laid right down and died. Old Joe won't worry us no more. He killed the helpless by the score. Now I hope he's satisfied, Since old Joe's taken his last ride. Refrain While near the end, he couldn't talk, He's paralyzed and...

Fifty Years Later, Russians Regard Stalin Positively March 4, 2006 (Angus Reid Global Scan) – Many adults in Russia think the tenure of one of the most notorious Soviet leaders was beneficial, according to a poll by the Public Opinion Foundation. 47 per cent of respondents believe Josef Stalin played a positive role in the country’s history. Stalin was the second leader of the Soviet Union, taking over after the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924. Stalin was responsible for a series of repressive campaigns—known as the Great Purge—during the 1930s. During his tenure, Stalin eliminated all possible political opposition...

Gorbachev, Who Turns 75 Thursday, Says End of Cold War Only Strengthened U.S. 'Arrogance' MOSCOW - Mikhail Gorbachev's magnetic brown eyes shine as brightly as ever, and he speaks with the same passion about the collapse of the Soviet Union as he prepares to mark his 75th birthday on Thursday. The man who ended the Cold War and launched democratic reforms that broke the repressive Soviet regime continues to enjoy the limelight, globe-trotting on behalf of his political foundation and environmental group and taking part in charity projects. At a meeting with foreign reporters this week, Gorbachev blamed the United...

A fatal desire for order Nina L. Khrushcheva International Herald Tribune FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2006 NEW YORK The 50th anniversary of the 20th Communist Party Congress in 1956, at which Nikita Khrushchev delivered his so-called "secret speech" against Joseph Stalin, is being ignored in Vladimir Putin's Russia. Only last year, there were many phone calls to my family asking for their participation in commemorative events. But those plans were drawn up before May 2005, when Russia celebrated the 60th anniversary of World War II with the sort of Stalinist "brutalist" pomposity reminiscent of Cold War days. Indeed, portraits of Stalin...

The speech Russia wants to forget By Tim Whewell BBC News It was a speech so shocking that even 50 years on, Nikolai Baibakov refuses point-blank to describe what he heard that day - a devastating attack on the man he worshipped above all others. The retired Communist Party official, now 91, can reel off scores of statistics of industrial production and oil extraction in the 1950s. But he tries every stratagem to avoid recalling the cataclysmic event to which he is one of the very few surviving witnesses. It was the secret final session of the 20th party congress...

Venezuela has received the first three of at least 10 military helicopters purchased from Russia. Military officials say the three MI-17 helicopters arrived Tuesday in Caracas. Venezuela bought the helicopters as part of a $120 million deal signed last March. Caracas also agreed last year to buy 100,000 Russian-made Kalashnikov assault rifles. U.S. officials have criticized the deals, saying they could trigger an arms race, destabilizing the region. MI-17s can be used in an assault role or as a transport craft. Venezuelan military officials say the helicopters will be used to patrol the border with neighboring Colombia. The remaining helicopters...

When Nikita Khrushchev died in 1971, I was still a girl, but I remember him well. We used to visit him on the weekends on his farm at Petrovo Dalnee, about 30 miles outside of Moscow. I would work with him among the tomatoes or beehives. Although to me he was my kindly old great-grandfather, my family assured me that he was a great man, a world leader, a liberator -- someone I should be proud of.

So Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited Hamas leaders for talks in Moscow. The invitation purifies the rat, and make no mistakes about it: At this point in time, Hamas is a real rat. Hamas – as it now stands – cannot be a partner for dialogue for any democratic country or government, nor for any aspiring democracies. The Hamas covenant, written in 1988, says - amongst other things - that the "Land of Palestine – from the river to the sea – is a Muslim waqf, and will remain so for all time. Any concession on any part of...

Israel was left fuming over Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to invite Palestinian poll winners Hamas to Moscow, slamming the move as a "knife in the back" from a key negotiator for Middle East peace. The invititation was later backed by France as potentially positive for the peace process. But it puzzled Washington and delivered a blow to the Jewish state's appeal to the international community to isolate the radical movement as it prepares to form a new Palestinian government. "This initiative is a real knife in the back... because it aims to give international legitimacy to a terrorist group...

Venezuela has become an important customer of Russian weapons, a senior government official said when announcing a record sale of armament in 2005, AP reported. Mikhail Dmitriyev, the head of the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation, advised that Russia could sell MiG strike aircraft to Venezuela. Queried about Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez' remarks on the possibility of buying MiG's, Dmitriyev answered that no concrete deal has been made. However, "if Venezuela desires to procure MiG's, we are ready to cooperate," he noted. According to the official, Russia is also determined to open a maintenance site for any weapons...

Date: Feb 5, 2006 3:08 PM From: Kenneth T. Tellis kenttellis@gmail.com To: Editor@VHeadline.com Subject: The time for Russia to act in defense of its own interests As long as the Russian nation sits back and accepts the world situation as a fait accompli Russia is doomed to medocrity ... but Russia can and must put its own interests before all. Perhaps the Russian families who lost their sons, fathers and youth in Afghanistan, might do well to remember who created that situation for them. It was the US that spent millions of dollars in a proxy war, fought by US-armed,...

MOSCOW. Jan 20 (Interfax) - The Russian delegation to the January session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will strongly oppose any attempt to equate Communism to Nazism, Head of the Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachyov said. "This is unacceptable, we are not ready to uphold any attempt to compare these ideologies as branches of totalitarianism," Kosachyov said at a Friday press conference in Moscow devoted to the upcoming on January 23 PACE winter session in Strasbourg at which a resolution condemning...

Russia's use of natural gas to exert economic and political pressure on Ukraine has caused grave concern in the West. But Russia's pressure on Georgia has been even heavier - and has scarcely been noticed. In Georgia, as in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks to implement the doctrine of a "liberal empire" put forward in October 2003 by Anatoli Chubais, the chairman of United Energy System (RAO UES), Russia's energy monopoly. According to Chubais, Russia will never find a place in either NATO or the European Union, so it must create an alternative to both, a new empire of...

While in the U.S., people speculated about the outcome of the Rose Bowl and the size of Samsung’s new humongous plasma TV at Las Vegas’ Consumer Electronics Show, Europe had a very cold New Year. Flaunting global warming, already freezing temperatures in the Old Continent managed to get colder thanks to Russian President Vladimir Putin. 2006 did not kick off promisingly when Gazprom, Russia’s Kremlin-owned energy monopoly, interrupted Ukraine’s natural gas flow through the ironically named “Brotherhood” pipeline. Ever since the downfall of the USSR, former satellite Soviet republics have benefited from heavily subsidized gas prices. Wanting to update Ukraine’s...

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's appointment last year was supposed to be good news for Russia: A longtime student of the former superpower, Miss Rice had publicly declared her love for the country and its culture, and even spoke its language. Most importantly, Moscow had applauded Miss Rice's view -- expressed during the 2000 presidential campaign -- that the United States should "get out" of Russian domestic affairs. But far from enjoying warmer relations, a year later officials from both countries are openly voicing their frustrations with one another. One official described Moscow's recent behavior as "inexplicable. Or just mad."

Russians prefer a strong leader to democracy International Herald Tribune THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2006 Two-thirds of Russians see a strong leader, and not democratic government, as best for their country, and an overwhelming majority see a strong economy as more important than a good democracy, according to the results of a survey that were released Thursday by the Pew Research Center. "These findings can only add to Western concerns that, under the government of President Vladimir Putin, democracy is in retreat in Russia," Pew commented in its report on the data. The figures, based on the results of a survey...

Public opinion is tracking political developments in Russia. Russians have been considerably less enthusiastic about democracy in recent years than they were in the early 1990s. Today, unlike then, when public cries for freedom were leading to the collapse of the Soviet Union, a majority believes that their country would be better served by a strong leader rather than a democratic government. And the latest Pew Global Attitudes poll finds the Russian people would choose a strong economy over a good democracy by a margin of almost six to one. These findings can only add to Western concerns that, under...

MOSCOW, December 20 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will take Syria's side if charges against Syrian officials with involvement in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri cause a conflict between the United States and Syria, two Russian parliamentary members said Tuesday. "If Russia is to choose between its two strategic allies, it will undoubtedly take Syria's side," said Shamil Sultanov, a coordinator of an inter-faction association, Russia and the Islamic World: A Strategic Dialogue. Nikolai Leonov, a member of parliament's security committee, who had recently visited Syria along with Sultanov and other MPs, said it was primarily beneficial...

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Thousands of supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez marched in Caracas on Saturday to support the leftist leader in his dispute with Mexico's president over U.S. free trade proposals. State workers, unionists and students, many wearing red T-shirts, waved flags and anti-U.S. placards as they marched through the capital accompanied by trucks blaring revolutionary songs, Venezuelan folk ballads and Mexican mariachi music. Venezuela and Mexico withdrew their ambassadors on Monday after Chavez called his Mexican counterpart, Vicente Fox, a "lap dog" of U.S. imperialism for his close ties to Washington and told him, "Don't mess with...